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Guglielmo
When Permission Is Needed
For the student that makes one photocopy at the library
of a limited portion of a book or journal as research for
a paper or class assignment, it is not necessary to get
permission because this is clearly within the exception
of fair use. As the scope of copying expands to multiple
copies or posting a copy online, the fair use issue
should rise to the occasion of a full, four-factor fair
use analysis. If the copy project appears to exceed fair
use parameters, then you should get permission. Here are
some general guidelines for determining whether the
project exceeds fair use outright and if permission
should be obtained. You should get permission for:
- Course packs or copies of textbooks, journal articles, or other materials that will be used as the sole course materials for any class in which a textbook is available and traditionally used.
- Any copies that are sold or used in some commercial venture with no educational, research, or commentary purpose.
- Any copies widely distributed or posted online that
create a substitute for the original product that was
copied.
Where to Get Permission
You have determined that you must get permission before
you copy materials, but how and from whom? From whomever
holds the copyright or has the right to give permission
on the rights holder's. The source and method of getting
permission will vary according to the nature of the
materials you wish to copy.
Print Media - Materials with text content that is
published, such as books, articles, magazines, and
journals-whether published digitally online or in hard
copy-will typically be copyrighted in the publisher's. It
is customary in the publishing industry for publishers to
buy the author's copyrights for a split of the profits or
"royalties." Therefore, you can always go directly to the
publisher and seek permission, but the process has some
drawbacks. Many publishers have no procedures in place to
process permission requests. It is very time consuming,
and many publishers may not even respond to the request.
An agency may have authority to grant permission for the
publisher. Most publishers are members of the
Copyright Clearance Center, or CCC.
Start your quest for permission there.
Copyright Clearance Center
222 Rosewood Dr.
Danvers, MA 01923
Phone: (978) 750-8400
Web: www.copyright.com
E-mail: info@copyright.com
You will need to establish an account and provide the
following reference information about the materials you
want to copy:
- Title
- Author
- Book's date or edition
- Portion of the book you want to copy
- Standard number or ISSN, ISBN or LCCN
The process is expedited if you do it online, even
getting permission nearly immediately in many cases. If
the CCC doesn't have the title you are looking for, then
you must try and contact the publisher directly. Most
information about the publisher's identity and contact is
on the same page as the copyright notice.
Images or Photos - You will have to go directly to the
image's artist, or creator, or photographer for
permission. Unfortunately, what you will encounter is
little or no information about the artist or
photographer, at least from the image or photo itself,
because rarely is any information displayed on the image
or photo. But you can greatly simplify the task of
getting permission by choosing the images you want to use
from a collection or database where the permission is
either available under a subscription license or there is
enough contact information to locate and contact the
artist or photographer. All the photos you see in this
Web site were chosen from either subscription collections
or collections where the photographer could be traced and
permission obtained directly. Here are some examples of
image or photo collections online:
Music -
Nearly all music performances in public require
permission. If you intend to play music in public, you
will have to get permission beforehand. There are
permission licenses for playing music on telephone hold,
intercom systems in stores, restaurants, and other public
places, and for jukeboxes in public places. All radio
stations that broadcast music are required to have a
license. Even nightclubs that hire bands for live music
have to have a permission license if the band intends to
play cover music, or music that is popular and protected
by copyright. One licensing agency demanded that the Girl
Scouts pay permission fees for singing
copyright-protected music around their campfires. The
agency representative was reported to have said, "They
buy twine and glue for their crafts…they can pay
for their music, too." 1
All music is protected by copyright except for music that
is in the Public Domain. See Music
and Copyright. Of all artistic works protected by
copyright, music is the most licensed and regulated. The
most efficient way to get permission is to contact all
licensing agencies. Several types of music licenses and
songs are licensed by different agencies. These are the
agencies that license most music in the United
States:
American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
(ASCAP)
(212) 621-6000
info@ascap.com
www.ascap.com
Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI)
(800) 925-8451
www.BMI.com
genlic@BMI.com
Society of European Stage Authors and Composers
(SESAC)
(800) 826-9996
(212) 586-3450
license@sesac.com
Harry Fox Agency
www.harryfox.com
Audiovisuals or Movies - Limited portions of audiovisual works
may be performed for education under both fair use or the
TEACH Act. Entire portions may only be shown for
education or entertainment if you have permission. Here
is an agency that may have the authority to grant you a
permission license:
Motion Picture Licensing Corporation
(MPLC)
info@mplc.com
www.mplc.com
(800) 462-8855
(310) 822-8855
If you have problems getting permission through the
agencies, you can always try to contact the publisher
directly, but you will need much time, patience, and
luck.
1 Zittrain: Call off the Copyright War,
Seth Johnson